Lewis Pugh Evans

Lewis Pugh Evans emerged from the First World War as one of the most highly decorated Welsh officers of his generation, having earned the Victoria Cross, the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, and repeated recognition for leadership under fire. He was born at Abermad, Cardiganshire, on 3 January 1881, the second son of Sir Griffith Humphrey Pugh Evans, KCIE, a barrister who practised at the Indian Bar and served for nearly twenty years on the Viceroy of India’s Council, and Lady Emilia Savi Pugh Evans. Educated at Eton College from 1895 to 1898, Evans entered the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1899 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Black Watch on 23 December that year. Welsh Biography Sent to South Africa with the 2nd Battalion during the Second Boer War, Evans served in the Orange Free State, the Transvaal and the Orange River Colony, taking part in operations at Poplar Grove, Driefontein, Vet River, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Diamond Hill and Belfast. He was promoted lieutenant on 1 May 1901 and was taken prisoner at Ladybrand. During his South African service he also suffered bouts of diphtheria and rheumatism that kept him in hospital for about two months. After the war he served with the Black Watch in India, where in 1905 he became dangerously ill with enteric fever. He recovered, was promoted captain in 1906, and eventually returned to Britain. Welsh Biography Evans also developed an early interest in military aviation. In 1913 he learned to fly at Brooklands and received Royal Aero Club Aviator’s Certificate No. 595 on 20 August. After Staff College at Camberley he was appointed General Staff Officer, 3rd Grade, at the War Office in August 1914. The following month he went to France as an observer with No. 3 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, carrying out reconnaissance work over the Aisne before returning to his regiment as a company commander in the 1st Battalion, Black Watch, in December. Wikipedia Appointed Brigade Major of the 7th Brigade in May 1915, Evans distinguished himself at Hooge on 16 June. With units disorganised under heavy fire, he moved repeatedly along the firing line from the morning until midnight, reorganising the troops and carrying reports back from the front. His conduct brought him the Distinguished Service Order, the official citation praising his “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.” The Gazette After further staff service, Evans was appointed temporary lieutenant-colonel and given command of the 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, in March 1917. On 4 October 1917, near Reutel east of Polygon Wood during the Battle of Broodseinde, he led the battalion through a severe enemy barrage. When a machine-gun position held up the advance, Evans personally rushed the emplacement and fired his revolver through its loophole, forcing the defenders to surrender. Wounded in the shoulder after the first objective was taken, he refused immediate treatment, reorganised his men and continued the advance. Wounded a second time, he remained in command until the second objective had been secured, only then collapsing from loss of blood. The action earned him the Victoria Cross, announced in London Gazette issue 30400 in November 1917. The Gazette King George V presented Evans with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 2 January 1918. After recovering from his wounds he briefly resumed command of the Lincolns before taking command of the 1st Battalion, Black Watch, later that month. At Givenchy between 18 and 20 April 1918, during the German spring offensives, he again operated throughout the forward positions and personally reconnoitred the ground for a counter-attack. His leadership during the three-day battle earned a Bar to his Distinguished Service Order. On 10 June 1918 he became a temporary brigadier-general and assumed command of the 14th Infantry Brigade, which he led until February 1919. He was subsequently appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for his wartime service and was Mentioned in Despatches seven times. Victoria Cross In 1919 Evans served as Base Commandant, Rhine Army, at Rotterdam. His interwar career then included duty as an instructor at the Senior Officers’ School, staff appointments in Britain, command of the 2nd Battalion, Black Watch, from 1926 to 1930, and service as Assistant Adjutant-General, Eastern Command. From 1933 he commanded the 159th Welsh Border Infantry Brigade. He retired from the regular Army in January 1938 with the honorary rank of brigadier and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Welsh Biography Evans returned to military service during the Second World War as Military Liaison Officer for Western Command at the Wales Regional Headquarters in Cardiff and later served as chairman of the Wales Board responsible for granting commissions in the Home Guard. There is presently no sufficiently strong Evans-specific evidence to retain the claim that he worked with the Special Operations Executive in India, and that statement should be omitted from the published biography. Welsh Biography His public service continued long after his regular military career. Evans was active in St John Ambulance and was appointed an Officer of the Order of St John in 1941. In 1947 he was promoted to Commander of the Order of St John, the grade under which the London Gazette specifically listed Brigadier-General Lewis Pugh Evans. He was also active in the British Legion and in public and agricultural affairs in Cardiganshire after inheriting the Lovesgrove estate following his elder brother’s death in 1945. The Gazette Evans remained closely associated with the Aberystwyth area as a Deputy Lieutenant, Justice of the Peace and churchwarden at Llanbadarn Fawr. On 30 November 1962, aged eighty-one, he suffered a fatal heart attack after arriving at Paddington Station in London while travelling to attend his grandson’s confirmation. He was buried in the family plot at St Padarn’s Churchyard, Llanbadarn Fawr. His medal group, headed by the Victoria Cross and including the DSO and Bar, later entered the Lord Ashcroft Collection.